Friday, January 11, 2013

Rough goodbyes and new beginnings




            Well, I’ve decided to join the crowd and write a blog about my London Study Abroad/ Internship experience.  Hopefully, through all the chaos of acclimating to a new culture, I will still be able communicate some coherent thoughts through this website.  The first two posts have been written a little late, and I’m using journal entries to try to recall my last few days.

            I should probably take a moment to explain the title of my blog.  On my flight, I began reading The Hobbit.  Also, through the years, “home is behind, the world ahead” has been my favourite J.R.R. Tolkien quote. Between the two, I really have Lord of the Rings on my mind. (I also used the Two Towers soundtrack to sleep to on the flight)  After contemplating names for my blog, I really think this one rang truest.  I have been stuck in the Midwest for so long that, that area has become my home, my world.  Now, I am leaving it behind and looking ahead.  Not just for this semester, but for my entire future.  If all goes well, I will create a foundation here that sets me up for the rest of my life. 

So here we go

home is behind, the world ahead…


As much as I complained about it, I am so happy my 21st birthday fell on the day before I left for London.  I was able to have a wonderful time with my favourite people and it allowed me to have an official goodbye with most of them.  Unfortunately, the evening had to be cut short because I was leaving the next morning.

            My brother, mom, dad, and good friend, Elliott, accompanied me to the airport and let me just say, it was a rough goodbye.  As far as I know there were no tears but it was hell motivating myself to get through the security point.  We all kept lingering about not wanting to say an official goodbye. Finally, we parted our ways and from beyond the security area, I waved my final goodbye to four of my favourite people. I might have shed a tear when I got to my terminal.  I will miss them so much, in fact I already do.  

            Besides regular frustrations, the trip was uneventful.  But, all that changed once we left the continental U.S.  Luckily, I had a window seat and around 8:00 pm EST we flew over Massachusetts and set out to fly along the Canadian coast.  I opened the window to see all the lights of the coasts from Massachusetts to Maine.  I loved how I could see this concreted line of light and then….darkness.  The longer we flew, the farther those lights fell behind me, now I could see that home is in fact, behind.
           
            Now, I am here and moved in and hopefully my near and dear readers won’t have to wait long for the post. Any maybe I will be a bit more eloquent in my next posts as well.

Cheers,
    Janelle

           

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